Generally, these days, python is the language of choice if you don't have a specific target language in mind. I've also been told it's a good one to start learning with (I can't really speak from experience here, I knew several languages before I picked up python).

I'm going to see how well I can explain how we get from a measurement of the CMB temperature anisotropies to the contents of the universe (Dark matter, dark energy)

The CMB is came into existence during the early universe, when everything was very hot and dense. Photons would scatter back and forth off electrons and protons and everything was pretty much in equilibrium. Except, there were these little fluctuations in density across the universe, some regions had a bit more matter/radiation/stuff than the average and some regions had a bit less.

Then the universe expanded and cooled and the CMB photons quit scattering off everything. When this happened, the photons that had been in a region of higher density ended up being slightly colder than the photons that had been in an under-dense region. WMAP mapped these hot and cold spots extremely well (Planck also did slightly more recently).

So, what the temperature differences in the CMB tell us is where the matter was distributed in the early universe. But how does this give us a measurement of how much of one thing there is versus another? Well, back in the early universe, the photons, protons, and electrons acted like a fluid. The universe started with some small droplets (density perturbations) and the droplets evolved and made waves in the fluid. (see these awesome animations/explanation)

How this fluid behaved depended on the amount of normal matter vs. dark matter there was in the universe. When WMAP measured the temperature anisotropies of the CMB they got an amazing statistical measurement of this effect. The behavior of this fluid is called Baryon acoustic oscillations, we see evidence of it in the CMB and in the distribution of galaxies in the universe.

Notice I didn't include dark energy in the explanation the BAO. Dark energy is more of a "late time" effect. It didn't become extremely significant until well after the CMB photons had quit scattering off of everything. What it does is change the how the CMB anisotropies look on very large scales through the Integrated Sachs–Wolfe effect (ISW).

The ISW effect occurs when photons fall into a potential well (eg. galaxy cluster or larger) and the potential well expands while the photon is inside it. The photon will shift in energy a bit when it falls in and climbs out of a potential well but, if the potential has changed in between these two events, the photon will have a net shift in energy. For dark energy, this happens with cosmic voids, potential hills instead of wells, but I have an easier time visualizing the potential well scenario. And again, WMAP can measure the statistical evidence of this effect in the temperature anisotropies at large angular scales (called the Sachs-Wolfe plateau).

That's the two main ones, dark matter and dark energy. There are other features in the CMB that tell us about the flatness of the universe and the amount of relativistic stuff in the universe as well. Feel free to ask for more explanation on all of the above, I'm not sure how clear I made it.

They're ok. I'm not too picky about sound quality and was going for a super cheap option. Audiophiles might want to spend more time researching headphones with better sound. These do connect with my phone extremely easily and the volume and next buttons on the ear work and are useful. I can also wear them for several hours before they get annoying.

They do also make bluetooth ear buds, I've been thinking about getting a pair for workouts but haven't looked into them yet.

People can ignore emails for hours before responding. Show up at their office and it's much harder to ignore you.

Show up and know your schedule if "they're really busy right now" and want to meet later. Then, if you're really worried about a paper trail, send a summary email to them afterwords. "Thanks for talking with me, it seems like XYZ will work out well for me, blah blah."

Dealing in person or on the phone is really nice because you can get your follow up questions answered at the same time as the original questions. Good luck!

I think I'd prefer we do it on Tuesday or Wednesday because Sunday and Monday have recently become "rush to get DE so the BK will be ready by war time." And I have a feeling more people are about to start discovering that push.

I think this works in theory, but the hard thing has to do with people's schedules and when they are able to attack. On Fridays I'll rarely be attacking at night because I like having real life plans then.

I'll generally look for the highest ranked enemy that I think I can 2-3 star and I think that's a good rule of thumb for everyone to go off. I like the "attack your own th level" rule because there's absolutely no reason for a th8 to waste an attack on a th6.

I think that if we have clans rules of "you attack at XX time" or "you only attack opponents ranked X-Y" then we'll just end up with less attacks overall in the war.

Hey all, I'm Katie (yeah, still annoyed I didn't make an actual username when I started clash).

Anyway, I'm 24 and currently working on my PhD in Cosmology and Astrophysics Instrumentation, basically I design and build kick ass telescopes.

My brother got me into clash when I was home for Christmas and I ran a clan with him and his friends for awhile. I got tired of them donating wall-breakers to war castles though, so I bounced. Now I'm here!

I haven't been to all of them, so I can't really differentiate, but I spent most of my time at Metrorock in Everett. They have 2 different lead areas that I enjoyed, one very tall and overhanging, the other had a small roof/arch thing going. The walls generally ran the range between 5.7 and 5.13.

Metrorock is also off the orange line and they have a free shuttle from the T stop to the gym, you just have to call and ask for a ride.